The new TI charging chip is slated to show up in many mobile products this quarter and next

Texas Instruments Wednesday unveiled its first single-stage wireless charging integrated chip (IC). TI said the new IC is 60% smaller than its predecessors.

The company today also added a power controller chip that it said increases the charging area of a pad by 400%.

TI's new bq51050B chip is said to be the industry's first Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) 1.1 Qi-compliant (pronounced "chee") wireless power receiver with an integrated direct battery charger. In the past, multi-stage chips were required to perform the same power-receiving function.

TIs new bq500410A transmitter and new bq51050B receiver chipset. The receiver chipset is 60% smaller than past wireless charging chips.

In addition to the receiver chip, built to be embedded in mobile devices such as smartphones, TI also announced the bq500410A -- its first Qi-qualified wireless power transfer controller.

The controller allows a Qi-compliant smartphone or other portable devices to charge in a surface area of at least 70 mm by 20 mm, 400% larger compared to today's 18-mm by 18-mm "bull's-eye" charge space.

The WPC is already working to extend its Qi specification to allow 10-watt power charging, said Menno Treffers, chairman of WPC.

"In the U.S., you're seeing smartphones [with wireless charging] taking off this quarter," Treffers said. "Europe will be a little later than the U.S."

"There will be a bunch more products this year and Q1 next year with this chip in it," Heyer said. "We've worked with a lot of phone [manufacturers] over last 12 to 18 months to bring this technology forward."

TI's new bq51050B chip comes in a 1.9-mm by 3.0-mm WLCSP (Wafer Level Chip-Scale Package) or 4.5-mm by 3.5-mm QFN (quad-flat no-leads) form factor, and is priced at $2.75 in 1,000-unit quantities. A bq51051B version with 4.35-V charge voltage is also available. The bq500410A charging chip comes in a 48-pin, 7-mm by 7-mm QFN package, and is priced at $3.18 in 1,000-unit quantities.

TI said the new charging chipset is just the tip of the iceberg as it plans to roll out technology over the next five to 10 years for HOV lanes with wireless power-enabled roads as well as charging technology for everything from televisions to kitchen appliances.